TBD vet Alex Phaneuf and his crew pop up at Mission Chinese Food this weekend

Alex Phaneuf (left) will be cooking at Mission Chinese Food this weekend. Photos: The Chronicle

Back in the nascent Mission Street Food days in 2008 and 2009 — before Mission Chinese Food became a reality but after Anthony Myint began experimenting in the Lung Shan space — the funky Mission Street restaurant hosted a variety of guest chefs and one-night dinners.

Young chefs came through who were unknowns at that point, but are familiar to many today: Ian Muntzert, Carlo Espinas, Ryan Farr, Jason Fox, Brandon Jew, Jeff Banker, David Barzelay, Ben Coe, among others.

This weekend, Mission Chinese Food will play incubator once again, as another young chef will be cooking, as a sort of mini pop-up, if there’s such a thing.

On Sunday night (5/25), Alex Phaneuf, formerly the sous chef at TBD, and several of his old crewmates at the fiery SoMa restaurant will be offering up some special dishes there. Mission Chinese Food will still offer its full menu.

Phaneuf and co. will offer four different types of cultured pickle plates ($4 ea.), lamb meatballs ($10), and a Korean-style chirashi dish as a main course ($18), with a medley of fish draped over heritage Delta brown rice.

The idea came about when Mission Chinese’s Jesse Koide cooked at TBD earlier this year during MCF’s spring break, citing a desire to play with the restaurant’s insane wood-fired set-up. So, in a quid pro quo move, Phaneuf is coming to Mission Chinese this weekend.

“I made him a deal that I’d do a pop-up at Mission Chinese Food, which I’ve always wanted to do,” says Phaneuf. “We were both jazzed about the idea that we could break away from the umbrella of our respective restaurants.”